From Moscow With Love
by ballistics belle
Summary: "What can I say about a women who I absolutely cannot get out of my system?" "That in itself says alot, G." Callen's relationships were always complicated, but there was something about this one that made complicated an understatment.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **So I got this idea after watching 'Keepin' it Real' (1x06). Callen's line at the end made me curious. Who was this woman that had turned Callen away from dating law enforcement?

* * *

Callen always liked the quite that would settle over the office after they closed a case. Sam, Kensi, and Dom had all left a few hours before while he stuck around to deal with Agent Giordano and the money.

"_She must have been one hell of a cop." Agent Giordano commented, throwing a parting glance over her shoulder at him but Callen was lost in a memory._

"_She was."_

Callen sighed and reached for his phone.

"Mr. Callen," Hetty's voice echoed as she descended the stairs. "What are you still doing here? I would have thought you'd have left by now."

"You mean you thought I'd have left with Agent Giordano." He corrected. He slipped his phone back in his pocket as his boss came to stand next to him. "Come on Hetty, you know that's not my style."

"Yes, you've made that quite clear over these last few days." She said, folding her hands in front of her. "You know, I can't help but notice your lack of a personal life, Mr. Callen. You don't date, you have no friends outside of work, no family to speak of-"

"What's your point, Hetty?"

"It just seems like a very lonely existence and it might do you some good to get out there and open yourself up to new people." Callen looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you telling me to get a life? How very Sam of you." He joked.

"Well when you put it that way, yes. You are an attractive man, I'm sure you could find a nice girl to take to dinner every now and then."

"Yeah well, dating gets complicated when you can't tell your date your first name." He countered. Hetty patted his arm.

"I have confidence in you." She started to walk away but stopped when she heard him speak again.

"Have you heard from Emma recently?" He asked softly. She turned back around.

"No, not in quite some time." She half admitted. It had been some time since she'd had any contact with her but she didn't want to tell him that it was mostly likely because she freelancing again. It would only cause him to worry. "You should call her." She encouraged before leaving him alone.

G pulled his phone back out and stared at it for awhile before dialing the number.

'_the number you have dialed is no longer is service…..'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: **Thank you to all of those who reviewed! I'm glad I got you curious about Emma. Yes you will eventually get to meet her but G has a little explaining to do to his partner first. Do you think Sam could be a little jealous? This chapter picks up after 'Pushback' (1x07).

* * *

Callen had tried not to read too much into that fact that Emma's phone was disconnected because it certainly wasn't the first time that she'd gone off the radar. What worried him more was that she had all but sworn that the last time would be the last time. And as new details were emerging concerning his shooting, the fact that she was unreachable wasn't sitting well with him.

"Eric," G called out as he entered the room to get the tech's attention. "You know what the meaning of the word 'confidential' is, don't you?"

"Confidential-private, secret, marked by intima-…yes I know what it means." Eric cut himself off as he saw the look on G's face. "What do you need?"

"I need you to find someone for me."

"Okay…who am I looking for?"

"A woman named Emmalynn Kendry. Alias' may include Emma Kendry, Emma Nemachof, Victoria Nemachof or Emma Vivanne." Callen listed off. Eric raised an eye at the amount of names but wisely said nothing. G didn't seem like he was in a very explanatory mood right now.

"Alright, I'm running the names through every database I can think of. Do you have picture of her? It might help to make things go a little faster." Eric suggested. G reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He retrieved a photograph that looked like it had spent many years in the leather folds and handed it to Eric who quickly scanned it in to the computer and handed the picture back to its owner.

"Let me know the second you get any kind of hit." G insisted. Eric nodded and the agent disappeared.

As the computer worked its magic, Eric took a second to look at the photograph on the screen. It was a candid shot of a pretty blonde with deep emerald green eyes. She was looking up at the camera with a mischievous glint in her eyes and a seductive smile. Clearly she meant something to Callen; why else would he have been carrying her picture around in his wallet. But if she was so important to him, why didn't he know where she was?

"What'd you find, Eric?" G said, skipping the pleasantries as usual when the tech called him about an hour later.

"That search you had me run? I got a hit. Not off any of the names but on the picture. The hair is different but it matched 9 out of 10 facial points. I'm sending it to your phone right now."

G looked down at the small screen of his phone and saw the face of his former lover staring back at him. The blonde hair had been replaced with a dark red but the eyes…..they were 100 percent Emma.

"Did you get a name?"

"Ya. Emma Walker. The picture is from a security came at Heathrow London Airport."

"Check the-"

"-flight itineraries for Emma Walker? I already did. She boarded a flight to Washington D.C. yesterday morning. I'm still working on getting all her info. This stuff is seriously buried." Eric explained.

"I'm not surprised." G scoffed. "Let me know when you have more. Thanks, Eric." G disconnected and was met by his partner's stare.

"Who's the girl?" Sam questioned. G had been in a distracted mood all day. Not that it wasn't unexpected considering the fact that they finally had a real lead on who was responsible for nearly killing him almost 6 months ago but there was an uneasiness that was unusual for him. G looked at him blankly.

"It's not important." G said, putting his phone back in his pocket. Sam gave him a 'don't play dumb with me' look. "It's not important to the case." G repeated. Sam said nothing but he knew with his partner it was always a matter of when, not if he would tell him.

Eric had texted him a phone number while he was with Arkaydi. He hadn't been able to do anything about it until that night as he was wandering around his old foster home. As he looked at the unfamiliar number, he wondered how different things could have been if he hadn't ended up here in this house.

Without this family, he probably would have never learned to speak Russian and without that knowledge he would have never been assigned to the joint taskforce or Operation Cossacks. After today, Sam probably would have told him that was a good thing considering that it was that mission that almost got him killed. But if he was never a part of that taskforce, he would have never met NCIS Russian Intelligence analyst Emmalynn Kendry.

"_Did you know we were going to be paired up?" Emma asked him as they were walking out of their first debriefing. _

"_No, but I had a hunch." He replied with a shrug._

"_And why's that?" She said, stopping her tracks. G turned around to look at her._

"_I always get partnered with the prettiest girls."_

G brought himself back to the present as he heard footsteps approaching. He started to reach back for his weapon when he saw Sam's bald head appear in the doorway.

"You know I almost shot you." G warned as his partner entered the room.

"You know you've told me that so much it's lost all mean?" Sam countered. The two stood in silence for a few minutes before Sam decided to breach the subject again.

"Who's the girl?" G turned and looked at him.

"The Russian? I told you, she was my foster sister-"

"I'm talking about the one on your phone." Sam interrupted.

"Oh," G said dumbly. He walked over and sat down against the wall, settling himself in before speaking again. "What can I say about a woman that I absolutely cannot get out of my system?" He said as he clasped his hands across his stomach and leaned back his head back.

"That in itself says a lot, G." Sam said.

"Yes it does." He laughed and was then quiet a moment as he tried to arrange his thoughts. "You know, the best stories usually start at the beginning." He encouraged.

"The beginning." He sighed. "I met Emma ten years ago. We were both loan outs to that taskforce."

"She was DEA as well?"

"No. NCIS actually. She was a Russian intelligence analyst. She spoke fluent Russian which she learned from her father who was KGB. With that background they thought she'd be the perfect undercover agent so they paired us together." G explained.

"Was she part of Cossacks?" Sam asked. It was one of the only reason he could think of as to why is partner would be so insistent on finding this women while in the middle of a huge case.

"Indirectly. She was our intel, so she stayed behind while the rest of us worked the deal."

"So that's why you wanted to find her. You wanted to make sure Stanhope hadn't gotten to her." Sam looked at his partner, trying to read his face.

"Emma was such a small part of that operation, I would be surprised if Stanhope had remembered her." G said, shaking his head.

"You remembered her." Sam pointed out. G gave a humorless laugh.

"I could never forget her. She was my partner on a deep cover mission that happened after Cossacks." G's voice had a wistful tone that made Sam wonder.

"How deep was this cover?"

"Deep. Our job was to get into the Russian syndicate to try to find out how they were gaining access to top US military weapons technology. Our cover was a married couple. I was a rich US businessman who had supposed naval contracts which gave me access and legitimacy. She was my Russian bride." G didn't look at his friend as he gave the details and Sam knew why.

"Did you fall for her, G?" He said nothing. "She was your partner, no fraternization between partners is like the number 1 rule." Sam explained unnecessarily. G frowned.

"Yeah, well, rules were meant to be broken." He said and Sam could tell by the scornful tone in the other man's voice that G didn't care about the rule as much as he cared about the girl.

"So what happened?"

"The mission ended bad for her. She went rogue afterwards and has been since. Last I heard she was working for MI-5."G was being purposely vague and Sam knew it. Actually he was surprised he had gotten this much out of him.

"What are you going to do?" G straightened up on the wall and looked at Sam.

"Make a phone call."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: **We finally get to meet Emma! ...well, sort of.

* * *

"_So what are you going to do?"_

"_Make a phone call."_

G had waited until his partner had obediently left the house before making his phone call. It only took three rings before the other line picked up.

"Hello?"

"Emma Walker? That's one I haven't heard before." G commented as he heard Emma's voice on the other end.

"Have you been snooping again?" She accused but didn't sound surprised that he'd found her. "I swear to god sometimes you've planted a tracking device in me."

"No, but it's a good idea considering your ability to disappear off the radar for extended periods of time and get in trouble. But that's not why I was snooping. I had to make sure that Stanhope hadn't found you." He informed.

"Stanhope? What godforsaken hellhole did that name crawl out of?" Her tone was questioning and slightly irritated that he would bring that name up.

"Apparently he was the one who was trying to kill me." He said, like it wasn't a big deal.

"The shooting back in May? That was him? Why?"

"He hired some cronies to take me out. He was in business with the Russian and was about to make a ton of money on an oil deal with them before they opened the lines to Europe. He was trying to take out anybody who could have known about him and Operation Cossacks." G explained to her. Emma didn't respond right away.

"I was barely involved with Cossacks or Stanhope. Why would you think he would go after me?" She asked, her voice soft.

"I wanted to be sure. You knew enough about that operation that he could have seen you as a threat…plus, I needed to be able to tell you that I came through on my promise." He added at the end and he heard her begin to laugh.

"And which of the million promises is this one?"

"That I found them….and it's safe for you to come out here." G tried not to sound too desperate on the last part, especially when he heard her sigh.

"Can we talk later, G? I'm kind of in the middle of negotiating a deal." She deflected and G tried not to let it disappoint him.

"You negotiating a deal in D.C.? That's not ominous at all." G said sarcastically.

"I'll call you later." She said.

"No you won't." He stated.

"I'll call you later." She repeated. "I am glad you found them, G. And not just for my sake." She added before hanging up. G looked at the phone dejectedly. He had been looking forward to the day when he could make that call to her and tell her that for once he wasn't going to disappoint her. Instead, he ended up being the disappointed one. He should have known better than to think she would just drop everything and come back to him. He had been the one to push her away to begin with.

"_What the hell are you doing here?" Callen exclaimed not at all happy to see her._

"_I got a phone call saying that you'd been shot and might not make it. I had to come see you and order your stubborn ass to live." She replied, not understanding his current mood._

"_You shouldn't be here. You have to go back to Europe." He insisted. She put her hand on her hips._

"_Why?"_

"_Because I don't want you here."_

"_Liar." She said, calling him out immediately. He wasn't._

"_You came to check on me and you did. You can see I'm fine. I'm here, I'm alive, I'm breathing and I'm talking to you. So now you can go." He pointed to the door with as much bravado as he could muster. He really didn't want her to go but he did want her alive. _

"_Callen, I just spent the last 13 hours on a plane praying that I wouldn't lose you or be too late. I think I deserve an honest answer." Emma sat in the chair next to his bed. G sighed. She wasn't going to leave until he confessed._

"_They have no idea who the shooter is, which means they don't know what the motive is which means you could be in danger too if they think you're connected to me." _

"_And so you think you can protect me better by sending me away? How do you know I'm not already in danger?" _

"_I can't take the chance. If they are after you too, you're at least harder to find in Europe where you can disappear easier than if you're here with me. You have to stay away until we figure out who's responsible." He stated. He saw her eyes start to water._

"_And if you never find them?" _

"_We'll find them." He reassured. "I promise." She laughed bitterly._

"_If I had a dollar for every G Callen promise I've ever heard, I could retire a millionaire." G just looked at her. _

"_.." He stated firmly. She looked at him, not quite convinced._

"_I can't wait forever." She reminded, not that Callen need it._

Sam didn't like to make it a policy of going behind his partner's back to get information. But after their conversation earlier, he became incredibly curious about this Emma, her relationship with G and their mission in Russia. And his curiosity couldn't wait six months for his partner to decide to open up to him about it again. So he went to the second best person for information on the subject. Hetty.

"Mr. Hanna, I thought you had gone home already?" Hetty questioned as he entered her office area.

"I did. But I talked with G and…I had some questions." He admitted.

"About the taskforce?"

"That….and Emma." Hetty sat back in her chair and looked at Sam for a moment.

"Callen told you about her?"

"Vaguely. They were partners on a deep cover mission that went south. But I know there's more to the story than that." Sam pointed out. Hetty gave a crooked smile and gestured for Sam to have a seat.

"Mr. Hanna, you have no idea."


	4. Chapter 4

**_A_uthor's note: **So this chapter is a little bit of background on the taskforce and on Emma. This is set back in time about 10 years to when she and G first met.

_

* * *

_

Emmalynn smoothed her hands over her skirt for the fourth time as she rode the elevator up to the top floor. She hated having to go before the director. It reminded her too much of being called to the principal's office in school. She couldn't think of anything that she had done that would warrant a punishment. But there were a lot rumors that were floating around the intel department. Some were saying that there were going to be budget cuts and those areas that were no longer considered relevant were going to be downsized. Then there was the other rumor that all the letters of the alphabets were getting together to create some joint taskforce to deal with a whole assortment of issues. Emma had no idea which to believe if any.

_The elevator chimed its arrival on the top floor and she stepped out and entered the director's office with a deep breath. _

"_Director Morrow will see you now." The secretary (Emma couldn't remember her name, they had been changing every couple of weeks. Some said that an Agent Gibbs was somehow responsible)._

"_Director?" She said, poking her head through the door. Morrow waved her in._

"_Agent Kendry, please come in. Sit down." She walked over to the chair in front of his desk. "We have a problem with the Russians." He said as soon as he closed the door._

"_The Russians? I thought the Cold War was over?" She joked. The humor was lost on Morrow._

"_Ya well tell that to those commie bastards." He scoffed. Emma frowned. He did know she was Russian, right? She bit her tongue and allowed him to continue. "Members of the Russian Syndicate have somehow been attaining top secret U.S. military intelligence and weapons technology and are then selling the information to the highest bidder on the black market. A joint taskforce is being put together by the whole alphabet soup to figure this out." Emma breathed easier. She wasn't going to lose her job today. Morrow sat behind his desk. "I've chosen you to go. With your background and superior understanding of the language I think you'll be a valuable asset to them." Emma bit the inside of her cheek to avoid breaking out in a stupid grin._

"_What exactly will I be doing sir?"_

"_That's up to the taskforce director to decide but I've recommended that you be in the field. Take the day to tie up loose ends with your assignments. You'll report to the taskforce tomorrow morning." Emma stood, getting the hint that he was done with her and wanting her out of his office. "Good luck, Agent Kendry." He offered before closing the door._

"_Thank you sir." Once he was sure that she was on her way back downstairs, Morrow went to his desk and picked up the phone._

"_Teagan? It's Morrow. I've done my part, now it's up to you."_

* * *

_Emma shouldn't have been surprised when she saw the number show up on her cell. She answered with a sigh. That man seemed to know everything that was happening as soon as it happened. Sometimes she swore he knew before God._

"_Emmalynn darling, I heard about your promotion. Congratulations!" _

"_Teagan, how could you possibly know already? I just found out about it twenty minutes ago." Emma questioned. Teagan Korsev was a long time friend of the family and had been the one responsible for getting her family to the United States and getting their citizenship._

"_Darling, I work for the CIA. I know everything that goes on in this town. Have they told you what you'll be doing yet?" The older man asked eagerly._

"_No, not yet. I report tomorrow. It'll be up to the taskforce director to decide where they want me to be." She explained._

"_Ah well, you'll do wonderfully I'm sure of it." He said and she could practically hear him beaming through the phone._

"_Teagan…. You haven't told my father yet have you?" She asked cautiously._

"_No." He swore._

"_Good. I'd like to tell him myself tonight. I know he's not going to take it well."_

"_Your father just wants what's best for you." Teagan assured._

"_Exactly, and I doubt he'll see this as good for me." She explained._

"_He'll learn to accept it. You were born for this Emmalynn, he can't help that." _

"_Well, thanks Teagan. I got to finish up some stuff here at work. I'll call you later?"_

"_Wonderful, darling. And again, congratulations." The two disconnected. Teagan sat back at his desk feeling very satisfied. He had been waiting for this moment from the time he had first met the girl. Even at the young age of seven he could see what a bright child she was. As she grew, so did her potential. Viktor was a good man who had just wanted a normal life for his wife and children and he had good intentions by wanting Emmalynn to be something like a doctor or a teacher but the girl was destined for greater things. He would be upset when he found out that his precious daughter was about to live the life that he had given up for her but Teagan would talk to him, make him understand what a valuable asset she would be to the taskforce. And if all went according to plan, Teagan could then convert her for good to his side. Yes, Teagan Korsev had been waiting a long time for the day that he could finally turn Emmalynn Kendry into his perfect spy._

* * *

_Emma had always hated first days. Her first day of school in Russia had been easy. She had known most her classmates from seeing them around the neighborhood and her best friend Ava was with her so it wasn't scary at all. Her first day of school in the United States was terrifying. Her English was still shaky at times and the kids were merciless. They teased her about her accent and told her she was weird. She hadn't wanted to go back, begged and cried to her father to let her go back to Russia but he had simply sat her on his knee, wiped away her tears with his thick, clunky fingers and told her that they couldn't go back and not to let those kids get to her. She had worked incredibly hard to lose her accent and perfect her English so she wouldn't have to endure the teasing any longer. By the time she hit high school, suddenly her being 'foreign' was cool and even considered to be hot by the boys. They lusted after her and wanted to claim her as a prize. They soon found out behind her big blue eyes and long golden blonde hair was that tough Russian spirit. She got suspended her junior year for kneeing a boy in the groin so hard he cried and threw up. Her father had laughed about it. He hadn't found it funny though when she graduated college and decided to work for the government. It was the last thing he had wanted for her. He disapproved and let her know it but he still doted on her endlessly because she was his baby, his princess._

_As she walked down the corridor to the conference where she was supposed to meet the rest of the taskforce, she began to wonder if her father had known something that she didn't. He had lived the life of a spy for many years working with the KGB during the Soviet era and it had worn him down, aged him significantly. But Emma knew she had a bit of a daddy complex. She so badly wanted to be like him and do things to make him proud and for some reason, she thought if she could pick up where he had left off, he would be. She took a deep breath and settled herself before she entered the room. It looked like most of the people were already there, so she quickly found an open seat and waited patiently for directions._

_The director had just begun his introductions and talking about the reasoning behind creating the taskforce when Emma noticed a man slip in the door late. She quickly looked away as to not make eye contact but figured she was too late when he came and sat down next to her. _

"_Hey partner." He whispered. She looked at him._

"_How do you know you're my partner?" She whispered back. _

"_Just trust me." He said before turning his attention back to the director. Emma looked him over. His dirty blondish brown hair was trimmed relatively short and looked as if he had done very little to style it. He wore blue jeans, a wrinkled button up and boots. His face looked as though he hadn't shaved in the last 48 hours or so, but his eyes. His eyes were an amazing shade of blue that was so stunning she had a hard time looking away from them. _

_The director babbled on for awhile longer before finally getting down to the assignments. _

"_Agents Stanhope, Taylor, Callen and Kendry. Your first assignment will be in Berlin. You'll be working on the Russian oil lines. There'll be more info at the de-briefing but Stanhope, Taylor and Callen you'll be in the field with Agent Kendry working background intel for you." That was all he offered before heading on to the next group. Emma tried to look around the room for her team members. She had no idea who any of the people were. They were from all over the D.C. from CIA to DEA to State. All of which were agencies she had very little contact with. She tended to be more foreign based. She looked at the man sitting next her and saw him smiling._

"_What?"_

"_Hi ya partner." He repeated. She tried not to show surprise at the fact that he had been right._

"_And you must be?"_

"_Callen." He offered simply. "Formally CID, now working with the DEA. You're Kendry." She nodded._

"_An ex Army CID agent and an NCIS agent. Well, it's nice to know that the director has a sense of humor." She said sarcastically. Callen smiled and she decided that she liked the way it made his face look. _

"_Did you know we were going to be paired up?" Emma asked him as they were walking out of their first debriefing. _

"_No, but I had a hunch." He replied with a shrug._

"_And why's that?" She said, stopping her tracks. G turned around to look at her._

"_I always get partnered with the prettiest girls."_

* * *

_Teagan felt like all the air had been let out of his lungs and someone was sitting on his chest to keep them from re-inflating. This couldn't be happening. All of his hard work could not be ruined by Mother Nature. He glared at the paper in front of him. He had made sure that all of Emma's paper work went through him first so he could make sure that there was nothing that could ruin her chances of making this taskforce. He was glad he had now. This would end everything. He had to fix it. He had to make sure that they never found out about it. Besides, it was entirely possible that the tests were wrong anyways. False positives happen all the time. It wouldn't do Emma any harm. If it wasn't affecting her now, then a few months wouldn't hurt her anymore. He would fix it all later. But for now….no one needed to know._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: **wow so i haven't updated this in a really long time. I had to walk away form it for awhile to kind of refocus and now i think i'm on track again. This is a little more background in Emma and G's relationship. I borrowed an idea from the book "Love Story" in this chapter but changed it around some obviously.

_She said her name was a hand-me-down name from a side of the family that long ago came on a boat from somewhere in Spain, sounded to me just a little bit strange i guess but it felt good on my lips. -Tim McGraw, Felt Good On My Lips._

* * *

_Berlin was hot that summer. It was borderline unbearable for Emma as she stayed holed up in that cramped apartment for almost a week straight. She had experienced hot summers in D.C. where it seemed like the breeze coming off the Atlantic just seemed to make things even steamier but they were nothing compared to this. The heat had melted away her energy and left her feeling constantly achy and sore. Not that she'd ever verbally admit that. There was no way on a task force of all men that she was going to complain. She'd suck it up and deal with it later. _

"_You're going to screw this up, Callen." They were sitting in the living room of the tiny apartment going over the intel for his meet tomorrow. "Callen, you're going to screw this up if you keep staring at me and not the case file." _

"_I'm not staring at you." He insisted. _

_Emma didn't buy it. She had figured out pretty quickly after meeting her partner that he had a thing for her. She was determined not to let herself get derailed by a man but it was oh so much fun messing with the former Army CID agent. _

"_Bullshit. You're staring at my legs." She uncrossed and then crossed her bare legs to emphasize the point._

"_Only once in awhile." He shrugged as he tore his eyes away from her. "After each case summary."_

"_That file has extremely short case summaries!" She exclaimed._

"_Listen you little narcissist, you're not that good looking!" Callen snapped._

"_I know but can I help it if you think I am?" Emma smiled. Callen threw the file on the coffee table and walked over to her chair. _

"_How the hell am I supposed to concentrate on case summaries when all I can think about is how those shorts make your legs look like they go on forever?" Emma swung her legs down off the chair arm and looked him in the eyes._

"_Are you saying I distract you, Agent Callen?" He rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious statement ever. She leaned in closer to him. "I'm the best distraction you'll ever have." She whispered. He groaned as she leaned back and went back to reading case summaries._

_Emma liked messing with Callen. She knew she was being a tease but figured better a tease then a whore. She'd heard plenty of stories about women who screwed their male partners while on assignment and end up getting screwed themselves by ruining their careers and their reputations. She was not about to become part of that group. She'd worked too hard for this assignment to throw it away on a fling with a partner she'd probably never see again after this was over. _

_The meet the next day ended up being a bust. They were made before they had ever even made it to the arranged meeting place. They were informed by the director that they'd fly back to D.C. tomorrow and be reassigned to different operations. Since they had a night to kill before heading back, Emma had wanted to go out and see the city. She had been stuck in that apartment while the guys got to go out and she just wanted a little freedom. She hadn't been out of the United States since she'd been brought there as a child and she wanted to experience a little before being sent back._

_Stanhope and Taylor didn't want to do anything which just left her and Callen, who was more than willing to go out on the town with her. They had been walking around the city for a bit before they found a bar to settle into for the night._

"_So Kendry-"_

"_Just because you don't have a first name doesn't mean you can't use mine." She interrupted. Callen had been calling her by her last name since he met her and it was grating on her nerves._

"_Right, Emily-"_

"_Emmalynn." She corrected. _

"_Emmalynn…what kind of name is that? It certainly doesn't sound Russian." He commented. _

"_It's not. My father's Russian, my mother's French. She apparently wanted to name me Emily but whenever my father pronounced it, it sounded like Emmalynn so they went with it." She shrugged. She was sure that he thought there was some great story behind it all but it was just her father's accent._

"_Why Emily?" _

"_I don't know, some great grandmother or something that had been an actress like my mom so she wanted to honor her." Emmalynn waved her hand dismissively. _

"_You're mother was an actress?"_

"_Stage actress. Sort of famous but nobody outside of Paris really knew her. She met my dad while he was on a mission in Marseille. They had a torrid little affair and then my brother came along. I came a few years later after they had gotten married and she had moved to Moscow with him." Her mother had also been a big factor in their move to the U.S.. She had begged Emma's father to get out of the spy game after a few too many close calls. _

"_So the spy game runs in the family huh? Daddy must be proud." Callen said, sipping on his beer._

"_Not really." Emma snorted. "This was actually what he was trying to avoid when he moved us to the States. But I had always thought there was something noble about what my father did as a spy."_

"_You thought the KGB was noble?" G asked with a raised eyebrow._

"_Well okay so the KGB may not be the best example but when you really think about it, a spy is someone who will do just about anything for their country even if it is seemingly misguided. I think there's some nobility in that." Emma shrugged. "Why do you do it? This job I mean."_

"_Never really had my own identity so I figured I might as well use a made up one. Makes it easier to be someone else when you don't know your own first name." He informed her._

"_You really don't know your own first name?" She asked, slightly disbelieving. _

"_Just the letter G." _

"_And here I thought you were just trying to be all mysterious."She replied with a seductive smile. G smiled back. _

"_This mission was far too short lived." He said woefully. "I finally get a pretty partner and the assignment ends up as a bust."_

"_I thought you said you always got the prettiest girls." Emma reminded._

"_Well I may have embellished a little." G admitted. She frowned at him. _

"_You, G Callen, are exactly the kind of guy that gets girls in trouble. With your sexy little smile and mysteriously bad boy personality, you are the kind of guy that makes even the best girls throw away all their hopes and dreams aside just to get you to give them the time of day. And the worst part is, I can't figure out if you know this and use it to your advantage or if you're just blissfully ignorant." Emma explained as she finished off her beer. Callen just looked at her over his bottle as he killed his drink._

"_What about you? I've been paying attention to you and yet I haven't seen you throw anything."_

"_That is because I am not like the other girls. I do not NEED your attention, I don't beg for it which makes me all the more desirable to you. You like a challenge, you like having to work for it and you figure you've found one in me since I didn't melt into a big puddle of goo the moment you batted your pretty blue eyes at me which I'm guessing is the usual response." _

"_Are you sure you're an analyst and not a psychologist?" He gave her his classic half smile half smirk and Emma could feel her resolve slipping away._

"_It's my job to know people. So here's one more piece of information for you, Callen. You are sexy and you know it, you could have any woman you wanted whenever you wanted her and__** I**__ know it, so if you want me you're going to give me a damn good reason why you should have me. I'm not some toy that you can play with for awhile and then toss away when you get bored. I have big plans and a guy like you coming in and getting me off track is not part of them." Emma stated, leaning slightly across the table. G, smile still firmly in place, leaned in until their lips were barely touching._

"_I think I'm up for the challenge." _


	6. Chapter 6

"Hetty, what do you know about Special Agent Emmalynn Kendry?" Vance asked. She and the director were in the lounge during a break in the Senate hearing. She looked at him, confused.

"Why do you ask about her?" Hetty questioned, not sure how to feel about her superior's interest in the agent. Knowing past history, things with her and NCIS directors never ended well.

"Her name has come up in passing a few times and I was curious to know more about her. Others have spoken highly of her." He explained casually.

"As they should." She replied, not entirely buying his ignorance. "She's one of the best intel operative in the business today. She's smart, competent, professional-"

"I've heard her described as distant, cold even." He added.

"Then you've heard from those who haven't dealt with her lately. She is distant only to protect herself from ever being betrayed and used as a sacrificial lamb like your predecessors did. She can be a very valuable asset but must be used carefully." Leon sat up, intrigued by this new info.

"What do you mean?"

"Leon, you know I don't gossip." She cautioned.

"It's only gossip if it isn't entirely truthful." Vance encouraged.

Hetty sighed. Today had been emotionally draining enough dealing with the memories of Agent Sullivan and then having Callen putting himself in yet another dangerous situation, she wasn't sure she had the emotional energy to go through Emma's fall from grace.

"Leon, I ask you to proceed with caution. Agent Kendry has a lot of baggage but she also has a lot to offer." She said, offering a warning instead. "But….what is exactly is it that you had in mind for her?"

* * *

Hetty really needed to get back to LA. Clearly the children could not be trusted when mom was away. G Callen may be one of the best agents in the field but he was one of the worst at following orders at times. She stirred her tea absently as she waited in the hotel lobby. She fully intended to let her senior agents have it when she returned.

"Well gee Hetty, I know I'm a few minutes late but you don't have to look so upset about it." The older woman looked up to see Emma taking off her coat and sitting down across from her. There was a cheeky smile on her face that she hadn't seen in awhile. It made Hetty smile.

"The look is not for you my dear. It's for Mr. Callen." She informed. Emma rolled her eyes.

"What's he done now?" She groaned.

"He got himself kidnapped by a militia group in order to save a young boy from bleak and dangerous future." She explained. Emma sighed as she ordered a drink. She knew that G had a habit of seeing himself in young boys and trying to save them from a fate he almost encountered.

"He called me the other day." She said lightly as she sat back.

"Yes I know. I told him to." Hetty responded.

"Oh really? And why would you do that?" Emma asked, somewhat curious as to her mentor's intentions.

"You deserved to know the truth." Hetty answered sipping her tea slowly. "Just as much as he does." Emma frowned.

"Nothing good is going to come from me telling him anything right now." She said with a warning tone in her voice. "Hetty, promise me you won't say anything to him."

"You have my word _for now."_ Hetty sighed.

"Thank you. I promise I just need a little more time to figure out the best way to break it to him. I don't expect him to take it well." Emma assured. Hetty had to give her that. This was going to be quite a bombshell.

* * *

"I've been thinking about taking a little trip." Callen announced to Sam as they were driving back to the office a few days later.

"To do what?" Sam asked, a little bewildered. In the three years that he'd been his partner, he'd never seen the man take a day off for personal reasons. If G wasn't at work, it was usually because he was in the hospital or jail.

"To see an old friend." G stated somewhat defensively. Sam just stated. "What?"

"I thought I was your only friend." He said in a mock hurt tone. G frowned. "So where is this 'friend' of yours?"

"D.C."

"Seriously? What kind of friend could you possibly have there?"

"A special friend." G replied defiantly.

"Yeah they must be 'special' if they're friends with you." Sam retorted. Callen just looked at him.

"You realize you just insulted yourself, right?" It was Sam's turn to frown.

"Is this about Emma?" G just looked at Sam. "You sure that's a good idea?" Sam asked.

"I'll be fine, but thanks for your concern." G added sarcastically.

"My concern is purely selfish. I don't want to break in another partner if you decide to run off with your ex." Sam explained.

G didn't say anything and his partner tried not to read too much into his silence. G did have a tendency of acting slightly irrational when it came to the women in his life and Same got the feeling that of all the women he knew of in his partner's life, she was the one he'd throw it all away for.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n: **A big thank you to all of you who have stuck with this story and to those who have found it along the way. Thank you thank you thank you

_What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new—Right now.-Anonymous_

"Ms. Kendry, thank you for meet me here on such short notice." Leon Vance greeted as he slid into the booth across from Emma. She gave him a slight nod and gently pushed a dark curl out of her face.

"You're the one calling the shots." She stated as she slowly sipped her drink. "Although, I am still curious as to why you would want someone like me." She added with a shrug.

"I find myself in need of someone with your….abilities." Vance said, getting right to the point. Emma eyed him suspiciously.

"You are the Director of a federal agency. You have access to dozens of agents that are perfectly capable of doing what I do. Why do you need me?" She repeated.

"I need someone who's unattached." He admitted.

"You mean untraceable." She corrected knowingly. Vance just looked at her. "You still have not answered my question—why _me_? I sense your need for discretion but you have a whole office of ghosts in L.A., do you not?"

"Hetty says that you're good. 'One of the best intel agents in the business today' to use her words." He replied, deflecting her question.

"Her opinion is biased, but I do appreciate the vote of confidence." Emma stated.

"But accurate." He pointed out. "I've done my homework on you and you're the kind of person that I'd like to have on my side."

"Too bad your predecessors didn't think so. They considered me to be of no use to them." She reminded him. Vance sighed.

"I know that you and Director Shepard had a difference of opinions-"

"Oh Leon, how politically correct of you. Jenny and I despised each other." Emma said with a wicked smile. "Though Director Morrow was no ally either."

"Then I guess it's up to me to right their wrongs." He replied confidently.

"What makes you think you can? I mean, what could you possibly have to offer that would convince me?" She challenged as she sat back in her seat.

"A chance to correct the mistakes of the past." He offered.

"The past is the past, Leon, and I happen to like my present." She informed.

"What about the future?"

"I'm not entirely sure I still have one." She admitted honestly.

"I can offer you the chance at one." Vance declared. "What would it take to get you onto my side?"

"I don't choose sides. It only ends up getting you killed in the end. I work for the highest bidder." She explained.

"What about choosing between good and evil?" He wondered.

"The line between good and evil is blurred for me. I'm more interested in motives and what the end goal is." Emma said.

"That seems like a very bleak way to look at life." He commented.

"Well, when life deals you the cards I've been dealt it can be hard to find the bright side of things." She stated. "Now, let's get down to business shall we? I'm interested in what it is you need me so desperately for." Vance gave her a long look before pulling a photograph out of his suit jacket and placing it on the table.

"I need your assistance on an off the record assignment involving Hetty and another agent you're familiar with." He said, sliding the picture towards her. She picked it up and had to work hard to school her emotions properly.

"Agent Callen." She said, swallowing hard. "I see you've done your homework on me." He just looked at her.

"Hetty has decided to take it upon herself to research Agent Callen's past." He announced.

"Why would she do a thing like that?" Emma asked, confused and slightly worried where this was going.

"Callen's anomaly of a past is a safety risk according to her. As long as there are holes there are people who will try to fill them with bullets. She wants to trace his bloodline." He explained.

"I don't understand. I thought they found the person who was responsible for the shooting in May." She stated. Her head was starting to spin with the implications of all of this.

"They did. But Hetty believes and I agree that it may only be a matter of time before someone else comes looking for him. That's why it's important to figure out the mystery that is G Callen's past." Vance said.

"And she wants me to help her by providing her with the intel she needs." Emma finished, finally realizing what her role in all of this was. "Tell me, does he have any idea she's doing this?"

"No," he shook his head. "Hetty figured it would be best to wait until she actually had something to tell." She shook her head.

"This is wrong. It's not my place to dig into his past nor is it Hetty's. I know she's like a mother to him but it's his life. If anyone is going to find the truth it should be him." She declared.

"Ms. Kendry, you know Callen as well as anyone if not better which means you know what would happen if he were to do this on his own." He pointed out.

"What if there are things he's better off not knowing?" Emma sighed. "I speak from experience that once you know certain things it changes everything. You can't go back…and sometimes you can't go forward either."

"Then you'll be able to sensor the information. Only tell him what he needs to know." Vance declared. "This is happening with or without you, Emma. But without you may be more painful for Agent Callen in the end." Emma stared at him for a long minute as she contemplated what to do.

"It must be a job requirement for Directors of NCIS to be master manipulators." She said with a frowned. "I still think this is wrong, but I'll do it—for him. Someone is going to need to be there for him when this all blows up like I anticipate it will."


	8. Chapter 8

"I was about half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty you fall half in love with them and then you never know where the hell you are"—J.D. Salinger

"_I have a question." Callen declared as he walked with Emma up to the front of a dilapidated old bar in a questionable part of D.C. _

"_Yeah?" She asked, glancing over her shoulder at him as she continued walking._

"_What are we doing here?" He asked as they reached the door._

"_We're going over our covers for the next assignment." Emma answered, not getting his point._

"_I know that. What I mean is, what are we doing here at this bar, which quite frankly looks like it might contain a few health code violations." Callen clarified. _

"_If you'd rather be holed up in some stuffy conference room all night drinking bad coffee it can be arranged. I just thought this might be a more enjoyable place to spend the evening." She replied matter of factly. He just rolled his eyes at her._

"_There's no need to get bitchy about it. I was just curious." He said defensively. _

"_You think that was bitchy?" She asked, clearly surprised. "That was me being sweet. You have not seen anything close to bitchy yet."_

"_So you're planning to be at some point this evening?" Callen mocked. _

"_If you piss me off I will be." She muttered under her breath as she pulled open the door. "There's someone I want you to meet." She announced as she led him over to a booth in the back of bar area where an older gentleman was already seated, slowly sipping a clear cocktail. Emma placed a hand on the man's shoulder and leaned down close to him, kissing him on both cheeks before greeting him in Russian. She then turned back to her partner. "G Callen, I'd like you to meet Viktor Nemachof, my father." She introduced. _

"_Nice to meet you Mr. Nemachof." G said, holding out a hand for the older man to shake while shooting a look at Emma._

"_Please, call me Viktor. Come, have a seat." Viktor said, gesturing to the empty side of the booth. Emma slid in first followed by G who leaned in close to her._

"_Isn't it a little early to be bringing me home to meet Daddy? I mean, I thought we were just sleeping together." He whispered in her ear. _

_Emma nudged him with her elbow. Their relationship (if it could even be considered one) consisted mostly of them sleeping with each other whenever they had the chance at this point and neither of them really had any desire to make more of it than that right now. She had made it clear to him when this all started in Berlin that she had plans and he wasn't necessarily a part of them but and he really didn't want any kind of commitment ever so it seemed to be a perfect set up for both of them._

"_We are just sleeping together and he's not here as my father. He's here as a former KGB agent. I thought it would be useful for you to meet with him so that you can survive past the first meeting with these men." She hissed sharply under her breath._

_Callen and Emma had been handed a prime assignment in Russia. Recently a small group of oil barons had been gaining access to things that they shouldn't, namely top level U.S. military intelligence and weapons. Their job was to go undercover and try to infiltrate the group to try to figure out what or who their source was so that they could stop it. Their covers had G playing the role of a wealthy U.S. businessman working with the oil companies who has access to other things through his under the table business dealings. Emma was going with him as his Russian bride to help with his legitimacy as well as be able to uncover information from the families as to the husband's business dealings. _

_The idea was that whichever one was disinterested in the resources that G had to offer was the guilty one because they already had access to the material. Emma didn't think much of their reasoning but didn't have the authority to question it. She figured that the least she could do was ensure her and her partner's survival by making sure their cover was believable and while G may have known the language, he lacked the cultural understanding that went with it. _

"_Admittedly things have changed since my day but the art of politics is still the same." Viktor added his accent heavy and rough as her overheard their conversation. Emma blushed gently at the thought of her father knowing that she was sleeping with the man sitting next to her. Callen liked the way her pink cheeks looked on her. _

_Viktor ordered a round of drinks for the table (Vodka all around-something G was going to have to get used to. He was more of a scotch kind of guy) and quickly got down to the business at hand. Callen honestly tried to listen to the advice that the older man was providing him with but he kept finding himself distracted by his partner. Emma fascinated him. She was one of the biggest contradictions he had ever met and there were things about her that he was just dying to understand. Like how she could love being of Russian descent so much and yet she was willing to work against people like her father to take them down and help the 'enemy' prevail. _

_Callen caught her glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes and could tell she was getting annoyed that he wasn't paying attention. He smirked a little bit. He loved to get her all worked up because it usually meant working through the tension in bed. G knew it was wrong for them to be sleeping together while they were partners but he just kept justifying by telling himself that it was purely physical. _

_But even as he told himself that he wasn't going to fall for her, Callen caught Emma's eye again and he knew it was all a moot point. He was already in too deep._


End file.
